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Introduction

My Introduction to Astrology
August 3, 19971

My first introduction to Astrology came through a uniquely colorful and inspired individual named Paul. Though I haven't seen him in over ten years, his essence shines so bright it's like I'm seeing him now. Paul is a consummate Scorpio: intense, piercing, honest, and not afraid to discuss people, relationships, sex... What made Paul interesting to me was his unwillingness to fall into a pigeonhole. On the one hand, he was a brilliant musician and on the other an avid reader of Plato who could spend hours engaging in dialectic discourse. He was one of those individuals whose passion for what he does is so strong that being with him can change your life, which he did with mine. I had been through a number of years of conventional psychiatric therapy. In that sense, Paul's job was easy: after dealing with a therapist who said little and nodded off frequently, I was looking for answers. But I was skeptical that Astrology had any validity at all.

More than anything, Paul's words and ideas had the stamp of reality: honest, funny, to the point, and curiously lacking any kind of sales pitch to believe this or that. Something like, 'if you're tired of wearing blinders, I can show you a few things'. So I listened: and the rest is history. Without even trying, he was able to shed more light on my situation in a few afternoons than 5 years of therapy. Was he making these ideas up? How did he know so much about me? A cursory exploration into a few beginning Astrology books showed me that he was not only not making it up, he was just touching the tip of the iceberg. A year later, when my life allowed, I was buried in a small mountain of Astrology books, eager to understand a seemingly simple system that could provide such major insight.

I started out with Paul for a reason. I was attracted to learning his Astrology because it was as real as Paul himself. There was no party line, no dogma I had to accept, other than that there is order in the Universe and that it doesn't necessarily conform to 20th century Western science. It provided insight without demanding allegiance. It was more like the way a $3 paper bag of funny looking and funky smelling Chinese herbs could heal where a $100 appointment with an M.D. wouldn't. Or the way a homeless person could tell you more about life with a comment than some 'teachers' would in years of study. It was attractive because, for me, it was a true alterative to what I knew at the time.

Subsequently, I learned and became quite adept at working with Astrology, however, I continue to return to that early experience of surprise and amazement that I found with Paul: busting my conceptions, showing my starved-for-meaning adolescent soul that even if I or others didn't fully understand it, there is something bigger than all of us and it knows exactly what its doing. My goal here is not to tell you what 'it' is for you, but to relate my journey as a guide to territory you may not be as familiar with. That's why I started with Paul: he refused to fall easily into other people's categories. His curiosity, his passion, and his unwillingness to accept whole cloth someone else's version of what was happening to him: that's what I want to tap into as I begin explaining what I have learned and above all, to keep my own mind as open as the infinite sky above my head.

So I'm asking you right away to bear with me: it is challenging to communicate when you are constantly aware that your subject is a work in progress, that it needs to be applied by each individual to their own unique situation. In this sense, learning Astrology is like learning a language: it's not as important what you say or hear when you're first learning it, it's that you engage yourself, your life with it. A person goes to France to learn French and Spain to learn Spanish, so where do we go to learn Astrology? To boldly go where no one has gone before? Yes, but not in a spaceship. Astrology takes us on an inward journey, inward to the essence of the Cosmos that is contained in each one of us. As a fellow traveler, I encourage you to trust your own intuition and learn to speak whatever language makes sense to you in this journey. Astrology is one such language: like all others, a hodgepodge of history, politics, and stories, plenty of interesting stories...

The Organization of This Book:
July 18, 2004

This book is built around two kinds of archetypes. The first kind is the overall archetype of Astrology, a holistic system of thought symbolized by the majesty of our Solar System and Universe beyond, a description of the way that experience moves in cycles from initiation to resolution. The purpose of this 'meta-archetype' is to organize and integrate the second kind, archetypes that represent specific phases of experience, the signs of the zodiac, the houses and the planets.

I am most interested in this overall meta-archetype because it is more essential to my approach: it establishes a context for understanding and communication. The 'sub-archetypes' are arbitrary: we could divide the cycle of experience into any number of relevant parts. Yet the division by 12 has deep significance: the combination of the number 3, signifiying growth and creativity, and 4, relating to solidity and the 'cross of matter'2. Twelve symbols also allows us to divide the wide range of human experience into meaningful and distinct categories. And most of all, the 12 signs of the zodiac and the elements (fire, earth, air and water), through thousands of years of use, have become part of what Jung called the 'collective unconscious', symbols that are deeply rooted in the collective psyche.

In order to invoke this symbolic progression of meaning, the chapters in this book are named after the signs, referring to these stages of experience more than a particular person born under that sign3. Yet the position of the Sun does correspond to a basic quality of being or approach to life4: the fact that my friend or partner 'is a Virgo' (has the Sun in Virgo) is what fuels my interest in understanding this archetype. Living Astrology adds two additional dimensions to this traditional conversation:

1. Our Astrological archetypes correspond to (give us information about) our context, but each of us chooses the level and direction of expression. The ability that each of us has to exercise our free will applies to how we respond to any of the categories that define us as individuals. For example, masculinity can be expressed as 'macho and aggressive' or 'principled and assertive' (the level) and a man could either be straight or gay (the direction: still defined by the same set of issues, but potentially making an opposite choice). A Virgo can choose to be stubborn and critical or patient and helpful (the level) and can decide to embrace or rebel against their context of service and self improvement (the direction).

2. Millions of individuals are expressing and evolving these archetypes on an everyday basis, living their version of Astrology. In this sense, some of the best books on the content of Astrology don't make explicit use of Astrological archetypes: for example, a book on social justice or diplomacy (addressing the evolution of the archetype of Libra). While I might explain to a person born in October what the Sun in Libra symbolizes in order to distinguish it from other stages of the cycle and give it context, my primary role would be to listen and observe how this individual was expressing this quality in real time. Living Astrology seeks to balance the value of integrating experience through holistic thinking and engaging with the expressions of the archetypes through each individual and society as a whole.

If your primary interest is understanding yourself and the context Astrology can provide for your activities (and especially if you are new to Astrology), try to get a feel for the big picture, the cycle as a whole as the first step to figuring out your place in it. Chapter one introduces the concepts that form the foundation for the rest of the discussion. After that, you can skip around by reading the first page of each chapter and deciding what archetypes interest you the most. If, on the other hand, you are familiar with basic Astrology, you might want to start at the transpersonal signs5 as they focus more on advanced issues and the practice of Astrology in general.

At some point in reading this book, if you don't already have it, you probably want to get an Astrological chart with the positions of the planets at your birth6. If you are most interested with 'proving to yourself' whether the specific correlations are relevant to you, keep a list of your responses to the issues of each sign and then read your chart at the end of the process. If you more interested in spiritual growth in general, then the structure of the book will not be as important as what you are drawn to. As I discuss in the section on oracles7, it can be very helpful to open the book at random and see what appears. In either case, let your intuition be your guide as to what is most helpful for you. My intention in publishing it is to speed you on your path to becoming Who You Are, not to create another detour.

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Next Chapter: Aries

Deepest Gratitude:
To my Wife Aliah, for her guidance, patience and love.
To my Son, Zackariah, for his uncompromising being in this moment.
To my Parents, for their astounding support and sacrifice on my behalf.
To my Brothers, John and Daniel for teaching and learning from me.
To my readers, for inviting me into their inner world.
To all of those who have engaged with me in spiritual discourse: Astrological or otherwise.